Federal Court Blocks Horse Slaughter on U.S. Soil

Aug. 3, 2013 -- A federal court has issued a temporary restraining order to halt U.S. Department of Agriculture inspections of horse slaughter plants, which effectively prevents any plant from opening on U.S. soil. Front Range Equine Rescue, The Humane Society of the United States, and other horse advocates filed suit against USDA last month challenging the agency’s failure to conduct the required environmental review prior to placing inspectors in horse slaughter plants. The injunction will remain in place for 30 days, at which time the court will decide whether to extend the order.

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS, said: “We’ve won a temporary, but life-saving reprieve for horses, and it’s good news indeed that the kill boxes in New Mexico and Iowa will be empty of horses in the weeks ahead. We’ll continue to make arguments when our case resumes in a month that these plants cannot legally operate because of inadequate environmental review.”

In response to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s decision to allow horse slaughter facilities to resume operating on U.S. soil, animal protection organizations have filed suit against the agency and asked for an immediate injunction.

The U.S. House Appropriations Committee voted to block funding for inspections at prospective horse slaughter plants, which if it survives the entire legislative process, would halt any effort to resume slaughter...

Federal lawmakers have introduced legislation to prevent the establishment of inhumane horse slaughter operations within the U.S., end the current export of American horses for slaughter abroad and protect the public from consuming toxic horse meat.